Damascus and Amman
The last day in Syria I visited the National History Museum; it is nice, but small, worthwhile to see the first alphabet and to get a recap on the region’s history.
This museum, like the whole country is undergoing changes; display cases are modified and English descriptions are added.
Also, did a lot of wondering through the streets and markets of Damascus; the sights, sounds and smell made it a memorable experience.
Yesterday we jumped on a bus headed to Amman. It was a 4 hour ride of which 1.5 spent between the Syrian and Jordanian customs and Immigration.
Right from the Jordanian Immigration office you see a major difference, well groomed officers speaking good English and with big smiles on their faces. Even more surprising was to see a woman in the immigration office, wearing traditional dress and ranking signs according to her position. In Jordan women can, and do have a wide variety of jobs as opposed to other Arab countries. Walking through Amman you will see a lot of women in uniform and realize that this is no longer Syria. Roads and buildings are very well maintained and there is significantly more orderly traffic. Cops are on the roads in large numbers and you can quickly see that they mean business as they seem to write a lot of tickets.
After being able to eat easily at lunch time in both Syria and Lebanon it came as a big surprise that there is no place available to have lunch around downtown Amman. Off I went to the market and did a bit of shopping so I can put together a snack.
Amman is not a very touristy destination from what I can see. A tour of the Citadel and of the Roman theater took about three hours. In the afternoon, we visited Jerash, 45 minutes away from downtown Amman. It is a large roman site quite well preserved, according to our guide “the best in the Middle East”. He must not have visited Palmyra…
Traveling towards Jerash it became apparent that Amman is a very modern city and the west side is really nice. Nature helped as the city sits on a number of mountains. The old city sits on seven mountains. As Amman grew it now covers some 23 mountains and the most fashionable districts are on the outskirts of the city.
For good or bad the influx of capital over the last five years as well as the influx of rich Iraqis fleeing the war made Amman the most expensive city in the Middle East overtaking Lebanon and Dubai.
Lessons learned:
-Jordanian Dinar (JD) is quite strong and the prices are significantly higher than in Syria.
-cell phones are the way to go. SIM on Orange JO, 6 JD including 2 JD credit. You can also buy calling cards and call from your cell international destinations. North America is cents a minute. Other countries are pricier.
-a meal in a regular restaurant, nothing fancy, will set you back about 7 – 10 JD
-During Ramadan there are very few places that serve alcohol, and the hotel I stay in, Abdali, is not one of them. If you really have to have a drink bring your own or find a fancy hotel.
-Great selection of fruits in both Syria and Jordan; must haves include fresh figs (my favorite), fresh pistachio, fresh dates and peaches.
Cheers
Tags: Amman, Damascus, Jordan, Syria, Travel, Tag Index
Traveler2007
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